Georgia’s Constitutional Court Legalizes Marijuana Possession

Georgia’s Constitutional Court has effectively legalized the possession and consumption of personal amounts of marijuana.

The court ruled today that consuming marijuana “is an action protected by the right to free personality”, and as such an individual can’t be charged with a criminal penalty or a citation for doing so. Zurab Japaridze, who leads the political party Girchi and was a plaintiff if the case the court ruled on, says that this makes Georgia “the first country in the post-Soviet space” to legalize marijuana. Japaridze says “this wasn’t a fight for cannabis, this was a fight for freedom”.

The ruling comes after a November, 2017 ruling that removed criminal penalties for marijuana possession. The new ruling takes this a step further, stating that individuals can’t even be charged with a citation (similar to a traffic ticket) for possession and using marijuana.

The court’s ruling gives the nation one of the most liberalized marijuana laws in the world, with only Uruguay and Canada having more progressive policies.